Charge control system for mobile energy storage fleet

ABSTRACT

Vehicle control systems can include one or more location sensors, an energy storage device, one or more charge sensors and one or more vehicle computing devices. The location sensor(s) can determine a current location of a vehicle, while the charge sensor(s) can determine a current state of charge of an energy storage device that can be located onboard the vehicle to provide operating power for one or more vehicle systems. The vehicle computing device(s) can communicate the current location of the vehicle and current state of charge of the energy storage device to a remote computing device, receive from the remote computing device a charging control signal determined, at least in part, from the current location of the vehicle and the current state of charge of the energy storage device, and control charging of the energy storage device in accordance with the charging control signal.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to charge control systems andmethods for a mobile energy storage fleet including respective energystorage devices.

BACKGROUND

Fleet operators that manage a relatively large fleet of vehicles canoften expend a significant amount of time, manpower and financialresources to maintain a proper operating level for the vehicles. When afleet includes electric vehicles, maintenance costs can include thoseassociated with charging the energy storage devices within the vehicles(e.g., the cost of power purchased from an energy provider to rechargeenergy storage devices) as well as a value of time lost to charging whenthe vehicles could otherwise be operating to provide a service (e.g., atransportation service).

SUMMARY

Aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will beset forth in part in the following description, or may be learned fromthe description, or may be learned through practice of the embodiments.

One example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a vehiclecontrol system including one or more location sensors for determining acurrent location of a vehicle. The vehicle control system also includesan energy storage device located onboard the vehicle and configured toprovide operating power for one or more vehicle systems The vehiclecontrol system also includes one or more charge sensors configured todetermine a current state of charge of the energy storage device. Thevehicle control system also includes one or more vehicle computingdevices configured to communicate the current location of the vehicleand the current state of charge of the energy storage device to one ormore remote computing devices located remotely from the vehicle. The oneor more vehicle computing devices are also configured to receive, fromthe one or more remote computing devices, a charging control signaldetermined, at least in part, from the current location of the vehicleand the current state of charge of the energy storage device. The one ormore vehicle computing devices are also configured to control chargingof the energy storage device in accordance with the charging controlsignal.

Another example aspect of the present disclosure is directed to acomputer-implemented method for controlling charge of a fleet ofvehicles. The method includes receiving, by one or more computingdevices, current status indicators from a plurality of vehicles. Themethod also includes receiving, by the one or more computing devices,one or more electric grid signals indicating current status or powerpricing information for an electric grid. The method also includesdetermining, by the one or more computing devices, charging controlsignals for each of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the chargingcontrol signals are determined, at least in part, from the currentstatus indicators of the vehicles and the one or more electric gridsignals indicating current status or power pricing information for theelectric grid. The method also includes providing, by the one or morecomputing devices, the charging control signals to the plurality ofvehicles to control charging of the energy storage devices at theplurality of electric vehicles in accordance with the charging controlsignals.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is directed to a chargingstructure including a plurality of charging stations, an energy transfersystem and a charge controller. Each charging station is configured toelectrically couple to an energy storage device for use with a fleet ofvehicles. The energy transfer system is configured to interface with theenergy storage devices at each charging station and selectively chargethe energy storage devices. The charge controller is coupled to theenergy transfer system and configured to determine, by one or morecomputing devices, a sensed state of charge for each energy storagedevice. The charge controller is also configured to control, by the oneor more computing devices, charge of each energy storage device inaccordance with one or more charging control signals, wherein thecharging control signals are determined, at least in part, from thesensed state of charge for each energy storage device and one or moreelectric grid signals indicating current status or power pricinginformation for an electric grid.

Other example aspects of the present disclosure are directed to systems,methods, apparatuses, tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media,user interfaces, memory devices, and vehicles including energy storageand control features.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of various embodimentswill become better understood with reference to the followingdescription and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which areincorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrateembodiments of the present disclosure and, together with thedescription, serve to explain the related principles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Detailed discussion of embodiments directed to one of ordinary skill inthe art are set forth in the specification, which makes reference to theappended figures, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an example electrical energy infrastructure (e.g.,electric grid) including charging structures according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 depicts an example charge control system according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 depicts an example computer-implemented communication exchangewithin a charge control system according to example embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 4 depicts example electric grid signals including an energy demandsignal, time-based rate pricing signal, demand/frequency pricing signaland demand/frequency rebate signal according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 5 depicts an example charging control signal according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 depicts an example vehicle control system including a chargingcontrol application and associated systems according to exampleembodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 depicts a first example charging structure embodiment accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 depicts a second example charging structure embodiment accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 depicts a third example charging structure embodiment accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 depicts an example charging station within a charging structureaccording to example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 depicts a flow diagram of an example method for controllingcharge of a fleet of vehicles according to example embodiments of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 12 depicts a flow diagram of an example method of determining acharging control signal according to example embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 13 depicts a flow diagram of an example method of controllingcharge of an energy storage device according to example embodiments ofthe present disclosure; and

FIG. 14 depicts a flow diagram of an example method of verifying one ormore performance factors associated with the disclosed systems andmethods for controlling charge of a mobile energy storage fleetaccording to example embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference now will be made in detail to embodiments, one or moreexample(s) of which are illustrated in the drawings. Each example isprovided by way of explanation of the embodiments, not limitation of thepresent disclosure. In fact, it will be apparent to those skilled in theart that various modifications and variations can be made to theembodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the presentdisclosure. For instance, features illustrated or described as part ofone embodiment can be used with another embodiment to yield a stillfurther embodiment. Thus, it is intended that aspects of the presentdisclosure cover such modifications and variations.

Example aspects of the present disclosure are directed to charge controlsystems and methods for a mobile energy storage fleet. Energy storagedevices can be included to provide some or all operating power for afleet of vehicles (e.g., electric vehicles, extended range electricvehicles, hybrid vehicles, battery electric vehicles, electricautonomous vehicles, etc.). Each vehicle in the fleet can be providedwith one or more sensors for providing current status indicators for thevehicle. For example, one or more location sensors can determine acurrent location of the vehicle and/or one or more charge sensors candetermine a current state of charge of an energy storage device at thevehicle. Charge control systems and/or methods can control charging ofan energy storage device associated with each vehicle in accordance witha charging control signal that is determined at the vehicle or at acentral control system associated with a fleet operator and/or acharging structure. The charging control signal can be determined, atleast in part, from the current status indicators of the vehicle and/orits associated energy storage device (e.g., current location and/orcurrent state of charge). The charging control signal also can bedetermined, at least in part, from one or more electric grid signals(e.g., time-based rate signals, demand response signals, frequencysignals, etc.) indicating current status and/or power pricinginformation for an electric grid. The charging control signal also canbe determined, at least in part, from one or more portions of servicerequest data. In some examples, service request data can include avolume of current service requests that request operation of a vehiclefor providing a service (e.g., a transportation service such as arideshare service, courier service, delivery service, etc.) to one ormore end users. In other examples, service request data can additionallyor alternatively include predicted demand for services of the serviceprovider (e.g., transportation, courier, delivery). Charging controlsignal generation based, at least in part, on multiple factors relativeto the mobile energy storage fleet and/or electrical grid can provide adynamically responsive energy solution that balances energy consumptionneeds of the fleet with supply/demand balance concerns encountered bythe electric grid.

More particularly, charge controllers can control charging of energystorage devices in or otherwise associated with vehicles that areinterfaced to an electrical energy infrastructure (e.g., electric grid)via one or more charging structures. The electric grid generally caninclude one or more generation portions, one or more transmissionportions and one or more distribution portions. Generation portions ofan electric grid can include one or more high capacity power generationsources (e.g., power plants such as coal plants, nuclear plants,hydro-electric plants, industrial power plants, etc.) and/or one or morelow capacity power generation sources (e.g., solar farms, wind farms,smaller power plants, industrial or residential customers, etc.). Thegeneration portions can be located in widely distributed locations thatare connected by a nodal grid structure of transmission and distributionportions including step-up and step-down transformers that ultimatelyinterface the generated power to industrial and/or residential energyconsumers at urban or rural locations. Charging structures as disclosedherein can be coupled to distribution portions of the electrical grid atpredetermined locations (e.g., in a clustered and/or distributedfashion) relative to this nodal grid structure. Charging control signalscan effectively determine where a mobile fleet of vehicles withintegrated energy storage devices and/or removable energy storagedevices otherwise associated with a vehicle will be dynamicallypositioned relative to the predetermined locations of chargingstructures in order to operate as a consumer of grid power or agenerator of grid power.

Vehicles interfaced to the electric grid via one or more chargingstructures as disclosed herein can include different types of powertrainsystems that generally include at least one energy storage devicelocated onboard the vehicle and configured to provide operating powerfor one or more vehicle systems. In some examples, one or more vehiclescan correspond to a battery electric vehicle having a powertrain systemwith only battery power units provided as a form of onboard power. Thebattery power units can include, for example, a bank of one or morelithium ion batteries or other energy storage devices. In some examples,one or more vehicles can correspond to an extended range electricvehicle having a powertrain system that can include a primary batterypower unit and an auxiliary non-battery power unit. An auxiliarynon-battery power unit can correspond to an internal combustion engine(ICE), turbine engine, other engine, fuel cell, or other power unitcoupled to an electric generator that charges the energy storage deviceswithin the primary battery power unit. Although a primary battery powerunit in an extended range electric vehicle can sometimes be powerfulenough for full performance range of the vehicle, the auxiliarynon-battery power unit can help to save cost on bank size of the energystorage devices and/or to maintain controlled limits on depletionthresholds for the energy storage devices. In some examples, one or morevehicles can correspond to a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle having apowertrain system that can include a primary non-battery power unit andan auxiliary battery power unit. The powertrain system of a plug-inhybrid electric vehicle can be predominantly operated by an ICE or otherengine, but can be strengthened by a smaller electric motor duringacceleration and other events and can include enough energy storagedevices to provide some energy savings for vehicle operation. Additionalvehicle powertrain system devices can include charge controllers,grid-tie inverters (e.g., bi-directional, anti-aliasing AC-DC-ACinverters), vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interface system, and the like.

In some examples, vehicles interfaced to the electric grid via one ormore charging structures can correspond to autonomous vehicles. Anautonomous vehicle can be configured to operate in one or more modes,for example, a fully autonomous operational mode, a semi-autonomousoperational mode, a charging mode, a park/sleep mode, etc. A fullyautonomous (e.g., self-driving) operational mode can be one in which theautonomous vehicle can provide driving and navigational operation withminimal and/or no interaction from a human driver present in thevehicle. A semi-autonomous (e.g., driver-assisted) operational mode canbe one in which the autonomous vehicle operates with some interactionfrom a human driver present in the vehicle. Fully autonomous operationalmodes and semi-autonomous operational modes can both be consideredservice modes by which the autonomous vehicle can provide a vehicleservice to end users. A charging mode can be used between operationalmodes while an autonomous vehicle is located at a charging structure forconsuming power and/or generating power in accordance with a chargecontrol signal. Park/sleep modes can be used between operational modeswhile a vehicle remains stationary or one or more systems of theautonomous vehicle are powered down.

An autonomous vehicle including charge control features as disclosedherein can include one or more operation systems configured to helpmaneuver and navigate the vehicle to specific charging structurelocations at specific times and to control charging of energy storagedevices in the vehicle powertrain system. In addition to a vehiclepowertrain system, the operation systems of such an autonomous vehiclecan include a computing system, a data acquisition system, an autonomysystem, a communication system and/or a human-machine interface system.The computing system can include one or more processors and one or morememory devices storing instructions that when executed by the one ormore processors cause the processors to perform the operations andfunctions disclosed herein, including but not limited to sensing currentvehicle status indicators, autonomous vehicle navigation to selectedcharging structure locations, and/or controlled charging of vehicleenergy storage devices in accordance with real-time charging controlsignals. The data acquisition system can include one or more imagecapture devices for detecting objects in the surrounding environmentrelative to the vehicle and one or more sensors (e.g., location sensors,motion sensors, GPS, telemetry position sensors, ambient temperaturesensors, light sensors, etc.) for determining vehicle position relativeto one or more other objects in the surrounding three-dimensionalenvironment. The autonomy system can help control vehicle navigationfunctions (e.g., acceleration, deceleration, steering, routing, etc.)based on data acquired by the data acquisition system, map data, and/orother data. The communication system can include one or more devices forinterfacing with one or more communication networks such that thevehicle computing device(s) can communicate with other computingdevice(s) onboard the vehicle or located remotely from the vehicle, suchas located at a central control system associated with a fleet operatoror a charging structure. The human-machine interface system can beconfigured to allow interaction between a user (e.g., a rider or otherservice customer, a charging structure operator, etc.) and the vehicle.

A central control system for controlling charge of a fleet of vehiclesand/or associated energy storage devices can include one or more centralcomputing devices configured to receive information signals from vehiclecontrol systems, computing systems of end users requesting a vehicleservice, and/or electric grid operation systems. Information signalsfrom vehicle control systems can include a variety of current statusindicators for a vehicle. In some examples, current status indicatorscan include a current geographic location for a vehicle as determinedfrom one or more location sensors. In some examples, current statusindicators can include a current state of charge of one or more energystorage devices located onboard the vehicle as determined by one or morecharge sensors. Information signals from computing systems of end usersrequesting a vehicle service can include a variety of vehicle servicerequest parameters. Vehicle service request parameters can include arequested date and/or time of service, a current location, pickuplocation, destination location, vehicle preferences, and other factorspertaining to a service request. Information signals from an electricgrid operator can include one or more electric grid signals indicatingcurrent status and/or power pricing information for an electric grid.Electric grid signals can include time-based rate signals that providepower pricing rates for consuming energy during different increments oftime. Electric grid signals can include demand response signalsproviding power pricing rates for increasing generation or supply and/orfor reducing consumption or demand as needed to support operationalrequirements of a local electric grid. Electric grid signals can includefrequency signals providing power pricing rates for short term voltageand frequency signal adjustments as needed to support operationalrequirements of a local electric grid.

Systems and methods for controlling charge of a fleet of vehicles candetermine charging control signals for each vehicle in the fleet and/orfor each energy storage device associated with such vehicles. Chargingcontrol signals can be determined locally at a vehicle control system orat a central control system associated with a fleet operator or chargingstructure. Each charging control signal can be determined, at least inpart, from the one or more status indicators of the vehicles, the one ormore electric grid signals and/or the one or more vehicle servicerequest parameters. In some examples, a first plurality of vehicles inthe fleet can be identified for operating in a service mode forproviding a vehicle service to end users and a second plurality ofvehicles in the fleet can be identified for operating in a chargingmode. The charging control signals then can be provided to the entirefleet or to a subset of vehicles (e.g., the second plurality ofvehicles) to control charging of the energy storage devices at theplurality of vehicles in accordance with the charging control signals. Acentral control system associated with a fleet operator and/or acharging structure can send command control signals to each vehicle inthe fleet to assign vehicles between the first plurality of vehicles foroperating in a service mode and the second plurality of vehicles foroperating in a charging mode.

Charging control signals can include a variety of particularinstructions provided in one or more configurations. In some examples, acharging control signal can include an instruction authorizing a vehicleand/or an energy storage device to start charging and/or an instructionfor the vehicle and/or energy storage device to not charge. Instructionsauthorizing a vehicle and/or energy storage device to start charging caninclude an instruction to operate the vehicle in the charging mode asopposed to a service mode at a current time or at a future chargingstart time. Charging control signals instructing a vehicle not to chargecan include an instruction to operate the vehicle in the service mode asopposed to the charging mode and/or an instruction not to charge at acurrent time but to wait until a future charging start time (e.g., whenservice demand for a fleet of service vehicles is low and/or powerpricing rates are low). In some examples, a charging control signal caninclude one or more location instructions for identifying a location ofa charging structure. In some examples, a charging control signal caninclude charging mode instructions for identifying a type of chargingmode such as a positive charging mode or a negative charging mode. Insome examples, a positive charging mode corresponds to a charging modeduring which the charge level of an energy storage device increases,thus corresponding to consumption of power made available by theelectric grid. In some examples, a negative charging mode corresponds toa charging mode during which the charge level of an energy storagedevice decreases, thus corresponding to generation of power bytransferring energy from the energy storage device to the electric grid.In some examples, a charging control signal can include a start timeand/or stop time for charging an energy storage device. In someexamples, a charging control signal can include rate of chargeinstructions that specify a current rate of charge for charging anenergy storage device. In some examples, a charging control signal caninclude target state of charge instructions that specify a target stateof charge desired for the energy storage device. A target state ofcharge can be more than the current state of charge of an energy storagedevice if charging is desired in a positive charging mode.Alternatively, the target state of charge can be less than the currentstate of charge if charging is desired in a negative charging mode.

Charging structures can be provided at predetermined locations relativeto a distribution network of an electric grid for selectively andsystematically coordinating charging of vehicle energy storage devicesin accordance with charging control signals. A charging structure caninclude a plurality of charging stations, an energy transfer system anda charge controller. Each charging station can be configured to receivea vehicle (e.g., by providing features for mechanically positioning thevehicle within the charging station) and register a vehicle (e.g., byproviding features for communicatively coupling the vehicle and chargingstructure). The energy transfer system can interface with the energystorage device(s) provided in each vehicle and selectively charge theenergy storage device(s). The charge controller can be coupled to theenergy transfer system and configured to determine a current state ofcharge for each energy storage device and to control the charge of eachenergy storage device in accordance with one or more charging controlsignals. The charging control signals can be determined, at least inpart, from the current state of charge of each energy storage device andone or more electric grid signals (e.g., time-based rate signals, demandresponse signals, frequency signals, etc.) indicating current statusand/or power pricing information for an electric grid.

In some examples, a charging structure can include structural featuresdesigned to accommodate a plurality of vehicles in a mobile fleet. Forinstance, a charging structure can include one or more ingress accesspoints and one or more egress access points. Charging control signalscan instruct a vehicle to enter the charging structure at one or moreingress access points, navigate through the charging structure, and exitthe charging structure at one or more egress access points uponattaining a target state of charge. In some examples, the chargingstructure can include a plurality of vehicle platforms and/or internaltracks on which the vehicles may be maneuvered while in the chargingstructure. In some examples, the charging structure can include aplurality of fixed charging locations into which vehicles can bedirected in accordance with charging control signals. In some examples,the charging structure can include one or more path bridges that providea designated path through the charging structure by which a vehicle canexit the charging structure ahead of other vehicles upon reaching atarget state of charge. A charging structure also can include additionalfeatures for implementing robotic cleaning and/or robotic maintenanceand/or robotic fueling/charging of a vehicle after it is received andregistered within a charging structure.

A charging structure can have one or more different configurations forthe energy transfer system. In some examples, an energy transfer systemcan include one or more charge coupling devices provided at a pluralityof charging stations within the charging structure, each charge couplingdevice configured to electrically couple to an energy storage device fora vehicle and charge or discharge the energy storage device. In someexamples, an energy transfer system is a contactless charging systemthat can include one or more inductive charging coils positionedrelative to an internal vehicle track on which the vehicles areselectively maneuvered through the charging structure. In some examples,an energy transfer system is a rim contact charging system that caninclude one or more conductive rails positioned relative to an internalvehicle track on which the vehicles are selectively maneuvered throughthe charging structure, wherein the conductive rail(s) are configuredfor electrical contact with vehicle rims and/or one or more otherconductive vehicle devices configured to channel conducted charge to anenergy storage device.

Charging structures can be provided in a variety of predeterminedlocations relative to a predetermined nodal grid structure of anelectric grid. The predetermined locations can be selected based on oneor more location factors including but not limited to proximity of thelocation to a predetermined node of an electric grid, location typeand/or a footprint cost associated with the location. For example, acharging structure can be provided completely or partially as a floatingstructure with one or more portions provided on a waterway (e.g., river,canal, lake, etc.). In another example, a charging structure can beprovided completely or partially as a high-rise structure with one ormore levels provided within a dedicated or mixed-use high-risestructure. In another example, a charging structure can be providedcompletely or partially as an underground structure with one or morelevels of a charging structure provided below ground level.

The systems and methods described herein may provide a number oftechnical effects and benefits. For instance, systems and methods forcontrolling charge of a fleet of vehicles can have a technical effect ofaddressing demand response needs within an electrical energyinfrastructure (e.g., electric grid). Electric grids can sometimesexperience supply concerns based on the fluctuating variability of powerconsumption and generation (e.g., hour-to-hour, day-to-day and/orseason-to-season fluctuations). For instance, electric grids mayexperience peak consumption during specific times of day such asdaylight hours, on specific days of the week, and/or during specificseasons of a year such as hot summer seasons or cold winter seasons.Supply concerns also can be encountered when power generation sourcesexperience limitations (e.g., decreased energy at wind farms or solarfarms due to weather-related phenomena). During expected or unexpectedsupply concerns, an electric grid can generate a demand response signalto grid consumers that provides power pricing rates indicative offinancial incentives for extra generation or demand reduction as neededto support local grid demand. Charging control signals determined, atleast in part, from demand response signals can provided targeted powergeneration and/or reduced consumption at strategically coordinatedlocations across an electric grid. Charge control features can beprovided to increase, divert and/or reduce power in a beneficial manner,thus reducing the chance of overload and resulting power failure withinan electric grid.

Systems and methods for controlling charge of a fleet of vehicles alsocan have a technical effect of regulating frequency within an electricgrid. Frequency of power available on an electric grid is ideally set ata nominal value (e.g., 50 Hz in Europe and 60 Hz in the USA) andmaintained as close as possible to this value everywhere on the grid.Differences between power supply and demand on the grid can result influctuations of a grid frequency from its nominal value. For example,grid frequency can decrease when power demand exceeds power generation,and grid frequency can increase if power generation is greater than thedemand load. These frequency fluctuations can occur on aminute-by-minute and even second-by-second basis. Charging controlsignals determined, at least in part, from frequency signals indicatingreal-time increases and decreases encountered within an electric gridgenerally can provide an energy stability solution that helps regulatefrequency, voltage or other energy parameters within the electric grid.Dynamic determination of locations, states of charge and rates ofcharging for energy storage devices in a vehicle fleet can be used tocreate a fast asset for frequency regulation because the response can beadvantageously targeted in a controlled manner without overshootingfrequency regulation correction goals.

The beneficial technical effects pertaining to alleviating supplyconcerns, responding to demand response signals with increased powergeneration and/or decreased consumption and/or regulating frequency canbe advantageously enhanced using aspects of the disclosed embodimentssince charging control features can be leveraged across an entire fleetof vehicles. The strategic implementation of charging control signalsacross a fleet of vehicles can harness a significant amount of energy ina given duty cycle (e.g., a day or portion of a day) in light of theamount of energy potentially drawn, stored and eventually expended bythe entire fleet. This energy potential coupled with the relative easeof transferring electric energy stored as chemical energy in batterybanks within vehicle powertrain systems (especially compared withtransferring combustion fuels) can advantageously allow a fleet operatorto serve multi-faceted roles as an energy consumer, grid powergenerator, frequency balancer and demand response service provider. Bycontrolling operation of multiple vehicles as power consumers and/orpower generators at configurable locations in accordance with chargingcontrol signals, power generation assets can be dynamically added and/orsubtracted as needed within the electric grid.

Use of coordinated charging control for a fleet of vehicles can provideadditional benefits for a fleet operator, including enhanced revenuegeneration. Fleet operators can control aspects of vehicle operationusing control systems having customized algorithms and logic fordetermining and managing a state of charge for each vehicle in relationto vehicle service demand and potential grid services revenue. Forexample, vehicle service demand can be determined when end users requestoperation of a vehicle for providing a vehicle service to the end user(e.g., a transportation service such as a ride-share service, courierservice, delivery service, etc.). Fleet operators can coordinatecentralized control of vehicle navigation in a manner that enhancesexpected revenues obtained by providing the requested vehicle servicesat coordinated times and locations, including potentially peak operatingdates/times for the vehicle service (e.g., during rush hour, during aspecial event). Fleet operators can balance vehicle service demands ofend users with energy demands of an electric grid by determiningcharging control signals that are based, at least in part, from one ormore electric grid signals (e.g., time-based rate signals, demandresponse signals, frequency signals, etc.), one or more vehicle servicerequests and/or one or more current status indicators of a vehicle. Insome examples, revenue enhancement can be achieved by determining afirst plurality of vehicles in the fleet for operating in a service modeand a second separate plurality of vehicles in the fleet for operatingin a charging mode. Charging control signals can be coordinated by afleet operator to earn service revenue as well as charging revenue inthe form of power generation rebates or discounted cost of powerconsumption. This increased earning potential from multiple sources canprovide substantial financial benefit for the fleet operator.

The systems and methods of the present disclosure also provide animprovement to vehicle computing technology, such as vehicle computingtechnology for controlling charge of energy storage devices locatedonboard a vehicle. For instance, the methods and systems enable one ormore computing devices to provide enhanced control of vehicle chargingwithout adding more complex, expensive charging hardware. For example,the systems and methods can determine one or more current statusindicators (e.g., current location and current state of charge) for avehicle, communicate the status indicators to a central control systemlocated remotely from the vehicle, receive a charging control signaldetermined, at least in part, from the current location of the vehicleand the current state of charge of the energy storage device, andcontrol charging of the energy storage device in accordance with thecharging control signal. This can allow the vehicle computing systems todetermine more relevant and useful charging parameters includingcharging location, charging mode, charging start and/or stop times,duration of charge, rate of charge, target state of charge and the likeby leveraging the capability of the vehicle computing system. Moreover,the vehicle can save computational resources that may otherwise be usedfor the coordination of other vehicle charging measures. Accordingly,the saved processing and storage resources of the vehicle can beconsumed for more critical, core functions of the vehicle such asvehicle operation in electric vehicles and/or imaging, object detection,navigation, etc. in autonomous vehicles.

With reference now to the FIGS., example embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be discussed in further detail. FIG. 1 depicts anexample electrical energy infrastructure (e.g., electric grid) 100including one or more generation portions, one or more transmissionportions and one or more distribution portions. Generation portions ofan electric grid 100 can include one or more high capacity powergeneration sources (e.g., power plants such as coal plants 110, nuclearplants 112, hydro-electric plants 114, industrial power plants 116,factories 118, medium sized power plants 120, etc.) and/or one or morelow capacity power generation sources (e.g., solar farms 130, wind farms132, smaller power plants 134, industrial customers 136, etc.). Thegeneration portions can be located in widely distributed locations thatare connected by a nodal grid structure of transmission and distributionportions including step-up and step-down transformers 140 thatultimately interface the generated power to industrial and/orresidential energy consumers at urban or rural locations (e.g., farm 142and residences 144).

Charging structures 150 as disclosed herein can be coupled todistribution portions of the electrical grid 100 at predeterminedlocations (e.g., in a clustered and/or distributed fashion) relative tothis nodal grid structure. Charging control signals can effectivelydetermine where a mobile fleet of vehicles 154 and their correspondingenergy storage devices 155 will be dynamically positioned relative tothe predetermined locations of charging structures 150 in order tooperate as a consumer of grid power or a generator of grid power.Command control signals can be sent to vehicles 154 assigning vehicles154 into either a first plurality of vehicles operating in a servicemode or a second plurality of vehicles operating in a charging mode.Vehicles 154 in the second plurality of vehicles can be provided withcharging control signals including more particular instructionsidentifying a particular charging structure 150 for charging an energystorage device associated with vehicle 154, or swapping a current energystorage device with a charged energy storage device provided at thecharging structure 150. When charging control signals instruct a vehicle154 and/or energy storage device 155 to interface with electric grid 100at a charging structure 150 and operate in a positive charging mode, thecharge level of an energy storage device 155 and/or an energy storagedevice associated with vehicle 154 increases, causing vehicle 154 and/orenergy storage device 155 to operate as a consumer of grid power. Whencharging control signals instruct a vehicle 154 and/or energy storagedevice 155 to interface with electric grid 100 at a charging structure150 and operate in a negative charging mode, the charge level of energystorage device 155 and/or an energy storage device associated withvehicle 154 decreases while charge is transferred to the electric grid100, causing vehicle 154 and/or energy storage device 155 to operate asa generator of grid power. Charge control signals can include additionalinstructions to control charging of energy storage devices 155 in orotherwise associated with vehicles 154 that are interfaced to theelectrical energy infrastructure (e.g., electric grid) 100 via one ormore charging structures 150.

Charging structures 150 can be provided in a variety of predeterminedlocations relative to the predetermined nodal grid structure 138 ofelectric grid 100. The predetermined locations of charging structures150 can be selected based on one or more location factors including butnot limited to proximity of the location to a predetermined node of anelectric grid, location type and/or a footprint cost associated with thelocation. For example, a charging structure 150 can be providedcompletely or partially as a floating structure with one or moreportions provided on a waterway (e.g., river, canal, lake, etc.). Inanother example, a charging structure 150 can be provided completely orpartially as a high-rise structure with one or more levels providedwithin a dedicated or mixed-use high-rise structure. In another example,a charging structure 150 can be provided completely or partially as anunderground structure with one or more levels of a charging structure150 provided below ground level. Additional description of features thatmay be provided within a charging structure 150 is presented withreference to FIGS. 7-9.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an example charge control system 200 accordingto example embodiments of the present disclosure includes a networkedconfiguration of computing devices, including a central control system202, a vehicle control system 204, one or more user device(s) 206, andan electric grid control system 208. The central control system 202,vehicle control system 204, user device(s) 206 and electric grid controlsystem 208 can be configured to communicate via one or more network(s)210. In some examples, the central control system 202 is associated withand/or operated by a fleet operator. A fleet operator can correspond toa service provider that provides a vehicle service to a plurality of endusers via a fleet of vehicles 154. In some examples, central controlsystem 202 is associated with and/or operated by an operator of acharging structure, such as an operator of charging structures 150depicted in FIG. 1. Each vehicle 154 has an associated vehicle controlsystem 204 provided locally at the vehicle 154. The vehicle controlsystem 204 can include components for performing various operations andfunctions, for example, one or more computing device(s) onboard thevehicle 154. Additional aspects of vehicle control system 204 arediscussed with reference to FIG. 6. Each user device 206 can beassociated with and/or operated by an end user of the vehicle servicecoordinated by a fleet operator that manages central control system 202.Electric grid control system 208 can be associated with and/or operatedby a stakeholder of an electric grid, such as an electric grid manager,energy provider, power pricing controller, etc.

The vehicle service(s) coordinated by central control system 202 caninclude one or more of a transportation service, a rideshare service, acourier service, a delivery service, and/or another type of service. Thevehicle service(s) coordinated by central control system 202 cantransport and/or deliver passengers as well as items such as but notlimited to food, animals, freight, purchased goods, etc. The service(s)coordinated by central control system 202 can be provided by one or morevehicles 154. For example, vehicle 154 can be an automobile(conventional, autonomous, semi-autonomous, etc.), an aircraft, anunmanned aerial vehicle (e.g., UAV, UAS, drone, etc.) or another type ofvehicle, each of which has an associated vehicle control system 204provided locally at the vehicle 154. The vehicle 154 can be anautonomous vehicle that can drive, navigate, operate, etc. with minimaland/or no interaction from a human driver. The autonomous vehicle 154can be configured to operate in one or more mode(s) such as, forexample, a service mode, a charging mode, a park mode, a sleep mode,etc. Service modes can include, for example, a fully autonomous (e.g.,self-driving) operational mode and/or a semi-autonomous operationalmode. A fully autonomous operational mode can be one in which theautonomous vehicle 154 can provide driving and navigational operationwith minimal and/or no interaction from a human driver present in thevehicle. A semi-autonomous operational mode can be one in which theautonomous vehicle 154 can operate with some interaction from a humandriver present in the vehicle. A charging mode can be used betweenoperational modes while an autonomous vehicle 154 is located at acharging structure for consuming power and/or generating power inaccordance with a charge control signal. Park/sleep modes can be usedbetween operational modes while a vehicle remains stationary or one ormore systems of the autonomous vehicle are powered down.

The central control system 202 and the electric grid control system 208can respectively include one or more computing device(s) 220/230. Thecomputing device(s) 220/230 can include one or more processor(s)222/232. The one or more processor(s) 222/232 can be any suitableprocessing device such as a microprocessor, microcontroller, integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), logicdevice, one or more central processing units (CPUs), processing unitsperforming other specialized calculations, etc. The processor(s) can bea single processor or a plurality of processors that are operativelyand/or selectively connected.

The computing device(s) 220/230 also can include one or more memorydevice(s) 224/234. The memory device(s) 224/234 can include one or morenon-transitory computer-readable storage media, such as RAM, ROM,EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory devices, magnetic disks, etc., and/orcombinations thereof. The memory device(s) 224/234 can store informationthat can be accessed by the one or more processor(s) 222/232. Forinstance, the memory device(s) 224/234 can include computer-readableinstructions 225/235 that can be executed by the one or moreprocessor(s) 222/232. The instructions 225/235 can be software writtenin any suitable programming language or can be implemented in hardware.Additionally, and/or alternatively, the instructions 225/235 can beexecuted in logically and/or virtually separate threads on processor(s)222/232. The instructions 225/235 can be any set of instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processor(s) 222/232 cause the one ormore processor(s) 222/232 to perform operations.

For example, the memory device(s) 224/234 can store instructions thatwhen executed by the one or more processor(s) 222/232 cause the one ormore processor(s) 222/232 to perform operations such as the operationsfor controlling vehicle charging (e.g., one or more portion(s) of method500), and/or any of the operations or functions of the control systemsas described herein. The one or more memory device(s) 224/234 can storedata 226/236 that can be retrieved, manipulated, created, and/or storedby the one or more processor(s) 222/232. The data 226 at central controlsystem 202 can include, for instance, data received from vehicle controlsystems 204 (e.g., current status indicators including current locationof vehicle 154, current state of charge of an energy storage deviceassociated with vehicle 154, current operational status or mode ofvehicle 154, etc.), data received from user devices 206 (e.g., vehicleservice requests for receiving a vehicle service from a fleet operator),and/or data received from electric grid control system 208 (e.g., powerpricing signals such as time-based rate data, demand response data andor frequency regulation data). Data 236 at electric grid control systemcan include, for instance, time-based rate data providing one or morepower pricing rates for consuming energy during different increments oftime, demand response data providing power pricing rates for increasedgeneration or reduced consumption as needed to support local grid demandrequirements, and/or frequency regulation data providing power pricingrates for short term frequency signal adjustment as needed to supportlocal grid frequency requirements. The data 226/236 can be stored in oneor more database(s). The one or more database(s) can be split up so thatthey are located in multiple locales.

The computing device(s) 220/230 also can include a communicationinterface 228/238 used to communicate with one or more othercomponent(s) of the charge control system 200 (e.g., vehicle controlsystem 204, user device(s) 206). The communication interfaces 228/238can include any suitable components for interfacing with one or morenetwork(s), including for example, transmitters, receivers, ports,controllers, antennas, or other suitable hardware and/or software.

The user device(s) 206 can be various types of computing devices. Forexample, the user device(s) 206 can include a phone, a smart phone, atablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a desktopcomputer, a computerized watch (e.g., a smart watch), computerizedeyewear, computerized headwear, other types of wearable computingdevices, a gaming system, a media player, an e-book reader, and/or othertypes of mobile and/or non-mobile computing devices.

The user device(s) 206 can include one or more input device(s) 242and/or one or more output device(s) 244. The input device(s) 242 caninclude, for example, devices for receiving information from a user,such as a touch screen, touch pad, mouse, data entry keys, speakers, amicrophone suitable for voice recognition, etc. The input device(s) 242can be used, for example, by a user to request a vehicle service from afleet operator. The output device(s) 244 can include devices forproviding content to the user. For example, the output device(s) 244 caninclude a display device (e.g., display screen, CRT, LCD), which caninclude hardware for displaying a communication to a user. Additionally,and/or alternatively, the output device(s) 244 can include an audiooutput device (e.g., speaker) and/or device for providing hapticfeedback (e.g., vibration).

The user device(s) 206 can include a positioning system 246 fordetermining and/or reporting a location of the user device 206. Forexample, the positioning system 246 can determine actual and/or relativeposition by using a satellite navigation positioning system (e.g. a GPSsystem, a Galileo positioning system, the Global Navigation SatelliteSystem (GNSS), the BeiDou Satellite Navigation and Positioning system),an inertial navigation system, a dead reckoning system, based on IPaddress, by using triangulation and/or proximity to cellular towers orWiFi hotspots, beacons, and the like and/or other suitable techniquesfor determining position. As described herein, the user device(s) 206can provide data indicative of device location (e.g., raw locationreports) to the central control system 202 associated with a vehicleservice provider.

The user device(s) 206 can include a communication interface 248 used tocommunicate with one or more other component(s) of the charge controlsystem 200 (e.g., central control system 202, vehicle control system204). The communication interface 248 can include any suitablecomponents for interfacing with one or more network(s), including forexample, transmitters, receivers, ports, controllers, antennas, or othersuitable hardware and/or software.

The network(s) 210 can be any type of communications network, such as alocal area network (e.g. intranet), wide area network (e.g. Internet),cellular network, any of the networks described herein, and/or or somecombination thereof. The network(s) 210 also can include a directconnection between one or more components of the charge control system200. In general, communication between one or more component(s) of thecharge control system 200 can be carried via network interface using anytype of wired and/or wireless connection, using a variety ofcommunication protocols (e.g. TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, FTP), encodings orformats (e.g. HTML, XML), and/or protection schemes (e.g. VPN, secureHTTP, SSL).

The technology discussed herein makes reference to control systems,computing devices, databases, software applications, and/or othercomputer-based systems, as well as actions taken and information sent toand from such systems. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat the inherent flexibility of computer-based systems allows for agreat variety of possible configurations, combinations, and divisions oftasks and functionality between and among components. For instance,control processes discussed herein can be implemented using a singlecomputing device or multiple computing devices working in combination.Databases and applications can be implemented on a single system ordistributed across multiple systems. Distributed components can operatesequentially or in parallel.

Furthermore, computing tasks discussed herein as being performed atcomputing device(s) remote from the vehicle (e.g., the central controlsystem 202 and its associated computing device(s)) can instead beperformed at the vehicle (e.g., via the vehicle control system 204). Forexample, the vehicle control system 204 can be configured to identifyand communicate with a charging control structure 150 in the mannerdescribed herein, without communicating with the central control system202. Likewise, computing tasks discussed herein as being performed atthe vehicle (e.g., via the vehicle control system 204) can instead beperformed by computing devices remote from the vehicle (e.g., thecentral control system 202 and its associated computing device(s)). Suchconfigurations can be implemented without deviating from the scope ofthe present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example computer-implemented communicationexchange 250 within a charge control system (e.g., charge control system200 of FIG. 2) includes exchange of signals or data among one or morecentral control systems 202, one or more vehicle control systems 204,one or more user devices 206 and one or more electric grid controlsystems 208. Information signals relayed to central control system 202from vehicle control system 204 can include a variety of current statusindicators 252 for a vehicle 154. In some examples, current statusindicators 252 can include a current geographic location for a vehicle154 as determined from one or more location sensors provided at thevehicle 154. In some examples, current status indicators 252 can includea current state of charge of one or more energy storage devices locatedonboard the vehicle 154 as determined by one or more charge sensors. Insome examples, current status indicators 252 can include a currentoperational status (e.g., one of a plurality of modes such as a servicemode or a charging mode to which the vehicle 154 is currently assigned).

Information signals relayed to central control system 202 from userdevices 206 associated with end users requesting a vehicle service canbe provided, for example, in the form of one or more vehicle servicerequests 254. Vehicle service requests 254 as depicted in FIG. 3 includeService Request 1, Service Request 2, etc. up to a total volume of Nservice requests. Determining a number N corresponding to a total volumeof vehicle service requests within one or more geographic areas at agiven point in time can be helpful for a central control system 202 tobalance vehicle service demand against information from electric gridcontrol system 208 in determining whether to assign vehicles to aservice mode or a charging mode. Each vehicle service request 254 caninclude a variety of vehicle service request parameters. For example,vehicle service request parameters can include a requested date and/ortime for the vehicle service, a current location associated with a userof user device 206, a pickup location for the vehicle service, adestination location for the vehicle service, vehicle preferences,and/or other factors pertaining to a vehicle service request 254.

Information signals relayed to or otherwise determined by centralcontrol system 202 can extend beyond current service requests asdescribed above to predicted demand for services of the serviceprovider. Demand can be predicted based on anticipated demand due to anupcoming event (e.g., sporting event or the like) and/or historicaldemand (e.g., by approximating the amount of requesters and/or theamount of autonomous vehicles at a particular geographic region at acertain time and/or date). In some examples, demand can be determined,at least in part, by considering a total volume of vehicle servicerequests within one or more geographic areas at a given point in time.The system can utilize various databases to predict, approximate, and/ordetermine the locations and/or amount of requesters, as well as thelocations and amount of available service vehicles. For example, fordifferent geographic regions, event information (e.g., location, time,and/or date of the event, or the like) can be stored in an eventdatabase. Event information can be indicative of whether servicerequests can be higher or lower at a certain time period (e.g., a timeperiod before the event begins versus a time period when the event isongoing), and can be indicative of whether there is a spike in demandfor the service relative to the amount of available service vehicles. Inanother example, calendar information that indicates important dates(e.g., holidays, first days of school for a city, voting day, or thelike), can be used to determine demand. Other examples of outsidesources or other stored data (e.g., predicted future, current and/orhistoric events, conditions, or the like) include weather conditions,news information (e.g., fires, emergency situations, or the like),social information (e.g., via social networking websites), trafficconditions, flight information from airports and/or airlines, or thelike, or other information that can assist in determining supply and/ordemand for the service. In some implementations, predicted demand forservices of the service provider can be analyzed in real-time or nearreal time to provide dynamically determined service request data fordetermining when to shift vehicles between a first plurality of vehiclesoperating in a service mode and a second plurality of vehicles operatingin a charging mode. Based on such information, charging control signalscan be determined that dynamically balance energy consumption needs ofthe fleet with historic, current and/or predicted service demand as wellas supply/demand balance concerns encountered by the electric grid.

Information signals relayed to a central control system 202 from anelectric grid control system 208 can include one or more electric gridsignals indicating current status and/or power pricing information foran electric grid. Electric grid signals can include one or moretime-based rate signals 256 that provide power pricing rates forconsuming energy during different increments of time. Electric gridsignals can include one or more demand response signals 257 providingpower pricing rates for increasing generation or supply and/or forreducing consumption or demand as needed to support operationalrequirements of a local electric grid. Electric grid signals can includeone or more frequency signals 258 providing power pricing rates forshort term voltage and frequency signal adjustments as needed to supportoperational requirements of a local electric grid. In some examples,electric grid signals from electric grid control system (e.g.,time-based rate signals 256, demand response signals 257 and/orfrequency signals 258) can include contractual offers from an electricgrid operator to perform one or more power services (e.g., powergeneration, power reduction, frequency regulation, etc.) in return forone or more incentives (e.g., a monetary reward, rebate, power costreduction, etc.) A fleet operator or other entity associated withcentral control system 202 and/or associated charging structures canaccept the contractual offers set forth in the electric grid signals,provide the contracted power services, and claim the agreed uponincentive(s). For example, a demand response signal 257 can include acontractual offer by an electric grid operator to reward an entity whofulfills a reduction in energy drawn from the electric grid and/orgenerates new energy to put into the electric grid. Verification that anentity has completed the contractually agreed upon power services can bebased at least in part on a metered result 259, which can correspond topower levels measured and monitored by kilowatt meters associated withone or more vehicles and/or energy storage devices. Such metered result259 can be relayed from a central control system 202 back to electricgrid control system 208 to confirm a contracted amount of power servicein order for a fleet operator or other entity associated with centralcontrol system 202 to claim the agreed upon incentive(s) from anelectric grid operator.

Examples of different electric grid signals relayed between an electricgrid control system 208 and a central control system 202 are depicted inFIG. 4. Electricity demand signal 260 can be represented as a graphicaldepiction over time (e.g., during a 24-hour span of time in a singleday) of actual electricity demand measured in units such as Megawatts(MW) for a given power provider or in a predetermined portion of anetwork corresponding to the electric grid. A capacity level 262 isplotted alongside the electricity demand signal 260 to indicate thegeneration capacity (e.g., grid capacity) of the given power provider orin a predetermined portion of a network corresponding to an electricgrid 100. As depicted in the example of FIG. 4, there is a portion oftime 264 between a first time 266 (about 3 PM) and a second time 268(about 8 PM) when the actual electricity demand 260 exceeds the gridcapacity 262. This portion of time 264 during which electricity demand260 exceeds grid capacity 262 can be caused by any number of factors,including increased consumption during evening hours and/or due tooperation in a particular season such as a hot summer or cold winter,decreased energy supply at wind farms and/or solar farms due toweather-related phenomena (e.g., low light or wind levels), or otherhosts of issues.

Referring still to FIG. 4, the data contained in actual electricitydemand signal 260 and grid capacity level 262 can be used, at least inpart, to generate one or more subsequent signals including a time-basedrate signal 270, a demand/frequency pricing signal 272 and/or ademand/frequency rebate signal 274. Time-based rate signal 270 includesdifferent cost levels determined as cost per unit of energy (e.g., centsper kilowatt hour (KWH)) at different portions of time, each cost levelbeing determined, at least in part, from the actual electricity demandduring the different portions of time. Time-based rate signal 270depicts four different power pricing rates charged by the power providerdepending on the time of day and corresponding electricity demand. Thehighest power pricing rate in time-based rate signal 270 can be charged,for example, when the actual electricity demand is at its peak. In someexamples, a time-based rate signal 270 can include a fewer or greaternumber of rates at different increments of time than depicted and/or canbe generated in a continuous form as opposed to discrete steps thattracks actual electricity demand signal 260 in real time.

Demand/frequency pricing signal 272 can be a demand response signal orfrequency signal that provides an indication of one or more increasedpower pricing rate levels available at one or more portions of time asdetermined from actual electricity demand signal 260. For example,demand/frequency pricing signal 272 indicates an increased price ratedetermined as cost per unit of energy (e.g., cents per kilowatt hour(KWH)) that an electricity generation entity could earn for generating apredetermined amount of power during portion of time 273.Demand/frequency rebate signal 274 can be a demand response signal orfrequency signal that provides an indication of one or more decreasedpower pricing rate levels (e.g., rebates) available at one or moreportions of time as determined from actual electricity demand signal260. For example, demand/frequency rebate signal 274 indicates adecreased price rate determined as cost per unit of energy (e.g., centsper kilowatt hour (KWH)) that an electricity consumer could save fordecreasing power consumption by a predetermined amount during portion oftime 275.

Referring again to FIG. 3, one example of time-based rate signal 256 cancorrespond to time-based rate signal 270 of FIG. 4. One example ofdemand response signal 257 can correspond to one or more ofdemand/frequency pricing signal 272 and/or demand/frequency rebatesignal 274 of FIG. 4. Frequency signal 258 also can be similar to one ormore of demand demand/frequency pricing signal 272 and/ordemand/frequency rebate signal 274 of FIG. 4, although it should beappreciated that the fluctuations in power pricing information in afrequency pricing or frequency rebate signal are often more variablewith pricing values that change during relatively short increments oftime, for example, on a minute-by-minute and/or second-by-second basisas frequency variations within the electric grid arise due to activelyshifting generation levels and/or loads.

A time-based rate signal 256, demand response signal 257 and/orfrequency signal 258, variations of such electric grid signals, portionsof such electric grid signals and/or data extracted from the electricgrid signals or variations or portions thereof can be relayed from anelectric grid control system 208 to a central control system 202. Thecentral control system 202 can analyze the power pricing information todetermine one or more aspects of command control signals and/or chargingcontrol signals. One or more command control signals 280 and/or chargingcontrol signals 282 can be determined for each vehicle in a fleetoperated by a vehicle service provider. Command control signals 280and/or charging control signals 282 can be determined at a centralcontrol system 202 associated with a fleet operator or chargingstructure as depicted in FIG. 3 or locally at a vehicle control system204. In some examples, the information from time-based rate signal 256,demand response signal 257 and/or frequency signal 258 is evaluated inreal time relative to a volume of vehicle service requests received fromend user devices 206 and/or relative to current status indicators 252received from vehicle control systems 204 to determine one or moreportions of a command control signal 280 and/or a charging controlsignal 282.

Command control signal 280 can include instructions indicating when toassign each vehicle to a first plurality of vehicles operating in aservice mode or a second plurality of vehicles operating in a chargingmode. Command control signals 280 can be dynamically determined in realtime based, at least in part, on one or more of the one or more currentstatus indicators 252 of the vehicles, the one or more electric gridsignals (e.g., 256, 257, 258) and/or the one or more vehicle servicerequests 254 and associated vehicle service request parameters. In someexamples, a first plurality of vehicles in the fleet can be identifiedin command control signal 280 for operating in a service mode forproviding a vehicle service to end users and a second plurality ofvehicles in the fleet can be identified in command control signal 280for operating in a charging mode. Charging control signals 282 then canbe provided to the entire fleet or to at least a subset of vehicles(e.g., the second plurality of vehicles) to control charging of theenergy storage devices at the plurality of vehicles in accordance withthe charging control signals 282. For example, considering a case whenthe price of electricity spikes, it may make sense for more vehicles toleave the service mode (e.g., the first plurality of vehicles) and beassigned to the second plurality of vehicles operating in a chargingmode. When central control system 202 takes vehicles away from offeringa vehicle service so that they can transfer energy to an electric grid,vehicles are effectively moved from the first plurality of vehicles (ina service mode) to the second plurality of vehicles (in a chargingmode).

Charging control signal 282 can include instructions indicating one ormore specific parameters configured to control aspects of chargingenergy storage devices in the second plurality of vehicles in accordancewith the charging control signals. As such, charging control signalsdetermined, at least in part, from one or more electric grid signalssuch as depicted in FIGS. 3 and 4 or otherwise can provide targetedpower generation and/or reduced consumption at strategically coordinatedlocations across an electric grid. Charge control features can beprovided to increase, divert and/or reduce power in a beneficial manner,thus reducing the chance of overload and resulting power failure withinan electric grid.

More particular aspects of charging control signals 282 are depicted inFIG. 5, which can include a variety of particular instructions providedin one or more configurations. In some examples, a charging controlsignal 282 can include authorization instructions 283. Authorizationinstructions 283 can provide an instruction authorizing a vehicle tostart charging and/or an instruction for the vehicle to not charge. Whenauthorization instructions 283 include instructions authorizing avehicle to start charging, authorization instructions 283 can include aninstruction to operate the vehicle in a charging mode as opposed to aservice mode at a current time and/or at a future charging start time.When authorization instructions 283 provide an instruction for thevehicle to not charge, authorization instructions 283 can include aninstruction to operate the vehicle in the service mode as opposed to thecharging mode and/or an instruction not to charge at a current time butto wait until a future charging start time (e.g., when service demandfor a fleet of service vehicles is low and/or power pricing rates arelow.) For example, if a vehicle 154 arrives at a charging structure 150at 9 pm, service demand is low as represented by a relative low volumeof vehicle service requests 254, and energy prices reflected bytime-based rate signal 256 indicate that energy prices go down at 10 pm,it may make financial sense for the vehicle 154 to just wait until 10 pmto start charging an energy storage device.

Referring still to FIG. 5, a charging control signal 282 also caninclude location instructions 284. Location instructions 284 can includeinstructions for identifying a location of a charging structure 150 atwhich central control system 204 determines that a vehicle 154 should bedirected such that an energy storage device associated with vehicle 154can engage with energy transfer hardware to generate power (e.g.,transfer energy to the grid from an energy storage device) or consumepower (e.g., charge an energy storage device from grid power). In someexamples, location instructions 284 can include a unique identifier fora charging structure that can be used to access a table or otherdatabase of information associated with all charging structures 150 in anearby geographic area. In some examples, location instructions 284 caninclude a specific street address for a charging structure and/orparticular geographic coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude values)at which a charging structure is located. In some examples, locationinstructions 284 can identify charging structures at or near specificlocations within an electric grid 100 that are in need of extra powergeneration during a portion of time as indicated in demand responseand/or frequency signals received from an electric grid control system208.

Location instructions 284 within charging control signal 282 can bedetermined based at least in part from one or more location factors. Insome examples, location factors include data associated with currentservice requests and/or predicted demand for services of a serviceprovider associated with a vehicle fleet. By controlling a vehicle tocharge its energy storage devices in close proximity to locations whereservice demand is requested and/or predicted can enhance fleetperformance and efficiency. For instance, predicted demand approximatedor determined from event information, calendar information weatherconditions, news information (e.g., fires, emergency situations, or thelike), social information (e.g., via social networking websites),traffic conditions, flight information from airports and/or airlines, orthe like, or other information can be used to control vehicles to becharged at charging structures that are geographically proximate tolocations where service demand is predicted to be high at certain timesor periods of time.

In some examples, location factors used at least in part to determinelocation instructions 284 within charging control signal can includedata associated with electric grid signals. Electric grid signalsindicating current status or power pricing information for an electricgrid can include information identifying certain locations at which anenergy provider or electric grid would benefit from additional powergeneration. For instance, electric grid signals can include specificrequests to ease power loads at one or more specific nodes within anelectric grid. In other examples, power pricing and/or grid fluctuationcan vary between nearby locations at a given time of day. This type offluctuation could happen, for instance, in geographic locations that aresplit across different power providers. For example, service vehiclesoperating around Kansas City could encounter different power pricesand/or electric grid service fluctuation between portions of Kansas Citylocated in the state of Missouri and portions of Kansas City located inthe state of Kansas during certain times of the day. By controlling avehicle to charge its energy storage devices in close proximity tolocations where electric grid signals indicate a need for extra powergeneration, a fleet operator can advantageously assist energy providerswhile simultaneously enhancing revenue benefits available from providingpower generation to the electric grid.

Charging control signal 282 also can include charging mode instructions285 for identifying a type of charging mode such as a positive chargingmode or a negative charging mode. In some examples, a positive chargingmode corresponds to a charging mode during which the charge level of anenergy storage device increases, thus corresponding to consumption ofpower made available by the electric grid. In some examples, a negativecharging mode corresponds to a charging mode during which the chargelevel of an energy storage device decreases, thus corresponding togeneration of power by transferring energy from the energy storagedevice to the electric grid.

Referring still to FIG. 5, in some examples, a charging control signal282 can include charging time instructions 286 indicating a start timeand/or stop time for charging an energy storage device. In someexamples, a charging control signal 282 can include rate of chargeinstructions 287 that specify a current rate of charge for charging anenergy storage device. Slower rates of charge may be used, for example,during times of day when energy demand is high and/or a volume ofvehicle service requests are low. Higher rates of charge may be used,for example, during times of day when a volume of service requests arehigh and a vehicle that needs to recharge its energy storage device(s)would like to quickly transition from a charging mode to a service mode.In some examples, a charging control signal 282 can include target stateof charge instructions 288 that specify a target state of charge desiredfor one or more energy storage devices within a vehicle 154. A targetstate of charge can be more than the current state of charge of anenergy storage device if charging is desired in a positive chargingmode. Conversely, the target state of charge can be less than thecurrent state of charge if charging is desired in a negative chargingmode.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a vehicle control system 204 can include aplurality of vehicle systems including one or more computing systems300, one or more data acquisition systems 302, an autonomy system 304, ahuman-machine interface system 306, a communication system 309 and apowertrain system 310. The vehicle computing system 300 can includemultiple components for performing various operations and functions. Forexample, the vehicle computing system 300 can include one or morecomputing device(s) onboard a vehicle 154. The vehicle computing system300 can include one or more processor(s) 312 and one or more memorydevice(s) 314, each of which can be physically located onboard thevehicle 154. The one or more processor(s) 312 can have similar featuresas described with reference to processor(s) 222/232 of FIG. 2. The oneor more memory device(s) 314 can have similar features as described withreference to memory devices 224/234 of FIG. 2. The one or more memorydevice(s) 314 can store instructions 316 that when executed by the oneor more processor(s) 312 cause the one or more processor(s) 312 toperform the operations and functions of the vehicle 154, as describedherein. One particular set of instructions 316 can include a chargingcontrol application 318, which corresponds to an application forimplementing specific instructions set forth in a charging controlsignal 282 relayed to a vehicle 154 from a central command system 202.The one or more memory device(s) 314 also can store data 320 that can beretrieved, manipulated, created, and/or stored by the one or moreprocessor(s) 312. The data 320 can include, for instance, current statusindicators 252 of a vehicle 154 including current location of vehicle154, current state of charge of an energy storage device associated withvehicle 154, current status or mode of vehicle 154, etc.).

The vehicle computing system 300 can include and/or communicate withvarious other systems associated with the vehicle 154. For instance, thevehicle control system 204 can include one or more data acquisitionsystems 302, an autonomy system 304, a human-machine interface system306, one or more input devices 307, one or more output devices 308, acommunications system 309, a powertrain system 310 and/or other vehiclesystems. The other vehicle systems can be configured to control and/ormonitor various other aspects of the vehicle 154. Such other vehiclesystems can include, for example, an onboard diagnostics systems, enginecontrol unit, transmission control unit, memory devices, etc. Thesystems of the vehicle 154 can be configured to communicate via anetwork 322. The network 322 can include one or more data bus(es) (e.g.,controller area network (CAN)), an onboard diagnostics connector (e.g.,OBD-II), and/or a combination of wired and/or wireless communicationlinks. The systems can send and/or receive data, messages, signals, etc.amongst one another via the network 322.

The data acquisition system(s) 302 can include various devicesconfigured to acquire data associated with the vehicle 154. This caninclude data associated with one or more of the vehicle's systems, thevehicle's interior, the vehicle's exterior, the vehicle's surroundings,the vehicle users, etc. The data acquisition system(s) 302 can include,for example, one or more image capture device(s) 324. The image capturedevice(s) 324 can include one or more camera(s), light detection andranging (or radar) device(s) (LIDAR systems), two-dimensional imagecapture devices, three-dimensional image capture devices, static imagecapture devices, dynamic (e.g., rotating, revolving) image capturedevices, video capture devices (e.g., video recorders), lane detectors,scanners, optical readers, electric eyes, and/or other suitable types ofimage capture devices. The image capture device(s) 324 can be located inthe interior and/or on the exterior of the vehicle 154. The imagecapture device(s) 324 can be configured to acquire image data to allowthe vehicle 154 to implement one or more machine vision techniques(e.g., to detect objects in the surrounding environment). For example,the image capture device(s) 324 can be used to help detect nearbyvehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, buildings, signage, etc. duringoperation of the vehicle 154.

The data acquisition systems 302 can include one or more sensor(s) 326.The sensor(s) 326 can include motion sensors, pressure sensors,temperature sensors, humidity sensors, RADAR, sonar, radios,medium-range and long-range sensors (e.g., for obtaining informationassociated with the vehicle's surroundings), global positioning system(GPS) equipment, proximity sensors, and/or any other types of sensorsfor obtaining data associated with the vehicle 154 and/or relevant tothe operation of the vehicle 154 (e.g., in an autonomous mode). The dataacquired by the sensor(s) 326 can help detect other vehicles and/orobjects, road conditions (e.g., curves, potholes, dips, bumps, changesin grade), measure a distance between the vehicle 154 and other vehiclesand/or objects, etc. The sensor(s) 326 can include sensor(s) associatedwith one or more mechanical and/or electrical components of the vehicle.

The vehicle control system 204 also can be configured to obtain locationdata. For instance, autonomy system 304 can include one or more locationsensors 328 for determining and/or reporting a location of the vehicle154. For example, the location sensor(s) 328 can determine actual and/orrelative position by using a satellite navigation positioning system(e.g. a GPS system, a Galileo positioning system, the Global NavigationSatellite System (GNSS), the BeiDou Satellite Navigation and Positioningsystem), an inertial navigation system, a dead reckoning system, basedon IP address, by using triangulation and/or proximity to cellulartowers or WiFi hotspots, beacons, and the like and/or other suitabletechniques for determining position. As described herein, the vehiclecontrol system 204 can provide data indicative of vehicle location(e.g., raw location reports) to the central control system 202associated with a vehicle service provider.

The vehicle control system 204 also can be configured to obtain mapdata. For instance, a computing device of the vehicle 154 (e.g., withinthe autonomy system 304) can be configured to receive map data from oneor more remote computing system(s) (e.g., associated with a geographicmapping service provider) and/or local memory device(s). The map datacan include two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional geographic map dataassociated with the area in which the vehicle 154 was, is, and/or willbe travelling. The autonomy system 304 can be configured to allow thevehicle 154 to operate in an autonomous mode (e.g., fully autonomousmode, semi-autonomous mode). For instance, the autonomy system 304 canobtain the data associated with the vehicle 154 (e.g., acquired by thedata acquisition system(s) 302). The autonomy system 304 also can obtainthe map data. The autonomy system 304 can control various functions ofthe vehicle 154 based, at least in part, on the data acquired by thedata acquisition system(s) 302 and/or the map data to implement anautonomous mode. For example, the autonomy system 304 can includevarious models to perceive elements (e.g., road features, signage,objects, people, buildings, animals, etc.) based, at least in part, onthe acquired data and/or map data. In some implementations, the autonomysystem 304 can include machine-learned models that use the data acquiredby the data acquisition system(s) 302 and/or the map data to helpoperate the vehicle.

The data acquired by the data acquisition system(s) 302 and/or the mapdata can be used within the various models to, for example, detect othervehicles and/or objects, detect road conditions (e.g., curves, potholes,dips, bumps, changes in grade), measure a distance between the vehicle154 and other vehicles and/or objects, etc. The autonomy system 304 canbe configured to predict the position and/or movement (or lack thereof)of such elements (e.g., using one or more odometry techniques). Theautonomy system 304 can be configured to plan the motion of the vehicle154 based, at least in part, on such predictions. The autonomy system304 can include a navigation system and can be configured to implementthe planned motion to appropriately navigate the vehicle 154 withminimal and/or no human-driver intervention. For example, the autonomysystem 304 can regulate vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration,steering, and/or the operation of components to follow the planedmotion. In this way, the autonomy system 304 can allow an autonomousvehicle 154 to operate in a fully and/or semi-autonomous mode. Autonomysystem 304 can also control one or more vehicle navigation functions formaneuvering the vehicle 154 to a charging location for the vehicle(e.g., a location of one or more charging structures 150) specified inthe location instructions 284 of a charging control signal 282.

The human machine interface system(s) 306 can be configured to allowinteraction between a user (e.g., human) and the vehicle 154 (e.g., thevehicle computing system 300). The human machine interface system(s) 306can include a variety of interfaces for the user to input and/or receiveinformation from the vehicle computing system 300. For example, thehuman machine interface system(s) 306 can include a graphic userinterface, direct manipulation interface, web-based user interface,touch user interface, attentive user interface, conversational and/orvoice interfaces (e.g., via text messages, chatter robot),conversational interface agent, interactive voice response (IVR) system,gesture interface, holographic user interface, intelligent userinterface (e.g., acting on models of the user), motion trackinginterface, non-command user interface, OOUI, reflexive user interface,search interface, tangible user interface, task focused interface, textbased interface, natural language interfaces, command line interface,zero-input interfaces, zooming user interfaces, and/or other types ofinterfaces. In some implementations, the human machine interfacesystem(s) 306 can be implemented using the one or more output device(s)308 (e.g., display devices, speakers, lights) to output data associatedwith the interfaces. The human machine interface system(s) 306 also caninteract with one or more input device(s) 307 (e.g., touchscreens,keypad, touchpad, knobs, buttons, sliders, switches, mouse, gyroscope,microphone, other hardware interfaces) configured to allow the user toprovide input.

The communications system 309 can be configured to allow the vehiclesystems to communicate with other computing devices. The vehiclecomputing system 300 can use the communications system 309 tocommunicate with the central control system 202 over a network (e.g.,via one or more wireless signal connections). In some implementations,the vehicle computing system 300 can use the communications system 309to communicate with one or more user device(s) 206. In someimplementations, the communications system 309 can be configured toallow the vehicle control system 204 to communicate with one or moreonboard systems of the vehicle 154. The communications system 309 caninclude any suitable components for interfacing with one or morenetwork(s), including for example, transmitters, receivers, ports,controllers, antennas, or other suitable components that can helpfacilitate communication with one or more other computing device(s)(e.g., computing device(s) within central control system 202, end userdevices 206, and/or electric grid operator control system 208).

The vehicle powertrain system 310 can include at least one energystorage device 330 located onboard the vehicle 154 and configured toprovide operating power for one or more vehicle systems and/or one ormore devices provided within or associated with one or more vehiclesystems. The energy storage device(s) 330 can include, for example, abank of one or more lithium ion batteries or other energy storagedevices. One or more charge sensor(s) 331 can be provided to determine acurrent state of charge of the energy storage device(s) 330 locatedwithin powertrain system 310. In some examples, one or more vehicles 154including an energy storage device 330 can correspond to a batteryelectric vehicle having a powertrain system 310 with only battery powerunits provided as a form of onboard power. In some examples, one or morevehicles 154 can correspond to an extended range electric vehicle havinga powertrain system 310 that can include a primary battery power unitand an auxiliary non-battery power unit. An auxiliary non-battery powerunit can correspond to an engine 332 (e.g., an internal combustionengine (ICE), turbine engine, other engine, fuel cell, or other powerunit). When powertrain system 310 does include an engine 332, engine 332can be coupled to an electric generator 334 that charges the energystorage device(s) 330 within the primary battery power unit. Although aprimary battery power unit in an extended range electric vehicle cansometimes be powerful enough for full performance range of the vehicle,the auxiliary non-battery power unit can help to save cost on bank sizeof the energy storage device(s) 330 and/or to maintain controlled limitson depletion thresholds for the energy storage device(s) 330. In someexamples, one or more vehicles 154 can correspond to a plug-in hybridelectric vehicle having a powertrain system 310 that can include aprimary non-battery power unit and an auxiliary battery power unit. Thepowertrain system 310 of a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle can bepredominantly operated by an ICE or other engine 332, but can bestrengthened by a smaller electric motor during acceleration and otherevents and can include enough energy storage device(s) 330 to providesome energy savings for vehicle operation.

Vehicle powertrain system 310 also can include additional systemcomponents, including but not limited to a charge controller 336, one ormore grid-tie inverters 338, and bi-directional vehicle-to-grid (V2G)interface system 340. Charge controller(s) 336 can include hardwareand/or software interface components (e.g., an insulated-gate bipolartransistor) for coupling to the energy storage device(s) 330 and one ormore controllable computing device(s) configured to execute theinstructions provided within a charging control signal 282. Grid-tieinverter 338 can include one or more power inverters configured toconvert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC)electricity. Grid-tie inverter 338 can be configured to synchronizeelectricity stored within energy storage device 330 with electricityprovided at a connection point to electric grid 100. One non-limitingexample of a grid-tie inverter 338 includes a bi-directional,anti-aliasing AC-DC-AC inverter. V2G Interface system 340 can includeone or more hardware and/or software components that facilitatebi-directional power flow capability for energy storage device(s) 330.V2G interface system 340 can enable fast charging of energy storagedevice(s) 330 in both a positive charging mode during which the chargelevel of the energy storage device(s) 330 increases and/or a negativecharging mode during which the charge level of the energy storagedevice(s) 330 decreases. Killowatt (kW) meter 342 can be configured tomonitor energy transfer to and from the energy storage device(s) 330associated with a vehicle 154. Killowatt meter 342 can measure andmonitor in kilowatt-hours (kWh) or other defined parameters thebi-directional quantities of energy flow indicative of consumption ofpower by the energy storage device(s) 330 and/or the generation of powerfrom the energy storage device(s) 330 to the electric grid. The amountsof power measured and monitored by kilowatt meter 342 can be used tomeasure and verify one or more performance factors associated with thedisclosed systems and methods for controlling charge of a mobile energystorage fleet relative to an electric grid, as is further described inthe method of FIG. 14. One or more inductive charging coils 344 can beprovided for wireless/contactless transfer of power between energystorage device(s) 330 and coupled inductive charging coils associatedwith an energy transfer system. One or more conductive charging elements346 can be provided for transfer of power between energy storagedevice(s) 330 and coupled conductive rails or other dedicated conductivecharging element provided at an energy transfer system, chargingstructure or other charge controller system.

It should be appreciated that one or more components of vehiclepowertrain system 310 can be located on-board vehicle 154, while one ormore other components of vehicle powertrain system 310 can be locatedoff-board the vehicle. For example, charge controller 336 and/orgrid-tie inverter 338 can be located off-board the vehicle and coupledto an energy storage device 330 when needed or desired. In someinstances, charge controller 336 can be directly coupled with grid-tieinverter 368 from a functional standpoint. For example, aninsulated-gate bibolar transistor (IGBT) provided within chargecontroller 336 can be configured to draw AC current (e.g., grid energy)and convert it into one or more precise DC voltages needed to pushenergy into the energy storage device(s) 330 at a given rate. An IGBTwithin charge controller 336 can also be configured to function as aninverter and draw DC current from energy storage device(s) 330, andinvert the energy into one or more AC voltages that match the voltageand frequency levels of an associated electric grid.

Referring now to FIGS. 7-10, more particular aspects of example chargingstructures 150 are variously represented. Charging structures 150 can beprovided at predetermined locations relative to a distribution networkof an electric grid 100 for selectively and systematically coordinatingcharging of energy storage devices 330 in accordance with chargingcontrol signals 282. A charging structure 150 generally can include oneor more charging stations, an energy transfer system and a chargecontroller.

For example, charging structure 400 of FIG. 7 includes a plurality ofpredetermined physical locations 402 within a given geographic area. Itshould be appreciated that although charging structure 400 of FIG. 7includes a fixed number (namely, eight (8)) predetermined physicallocations 402, any number of physical locations 402 within chargingstructure 400 is possible, including only a single physical location 402or many more physical locations 402 in one or more groups, on one ormore levels of a multi-level structure, or the like. Each physicallocation 402 can include a charging station 404 and an energy transfersystem 406. In some examples, charging stations 404 can correspond tovehicle charging stations configured to receive a vehicle 154 (e.g., byproviding features for mechanically positioning the vehicle 154 withinthe charging station 404) and register a vehicle 154 (e.g., by providingfeatures for communicatively coupling the vehicle 154 and chargingstructure 400). In some examples, the mechanical features forpositioning a vehicle 154 within charging station 404 include aplatform. In some examples, charging stations 404 can correspond tobattery charging stations for an energy storage device that is removablefrom a vehicle.

Each energy transfer system 406 can interface with an energy storagedevice(s) 330 provided in or otherwise associated with each vehicle 154and selectively charge the energy storage device(s) 330. The chargecontroller 408 can be coupled to each energy transfer system 406 andconfigured to determine a current state of charge for each energystorage device 330 for vehicles 154 received and registered withincharging station(s) 404. Charge controller 408 can control the charge ofeach energy storage device 330 in accordance with one or more chargingcontrol signals 282. In some examples, charge controller 408 can includea central control system 202 as described in FIG. 6. One or moreingress/egress access points 410 also can be provided at chargingstructure 400 through which vehicles 154 can be navigated in anautonomous and/or semi-autonomous operational mode towards one or moreof the charging stations 404.

The particular configuration of each energy transfer system 406 withincharging structure 400 of FIG. 7 can vary. In some examples, energytransfer system 406 can include one or more charge coupling devicesprovided at each charging station 404 within the charging structure 400.Each charge coupling device within energy transfer system 406 can beconfigured to electrically couple to an energy storage device 330 withina vehicle 154 and charge or discharge the energy storage device.Electrical coupling can occur, for example, by providing an electricalreceptacle within each energy transfer system 406 that can beelectrically engaged by an electrical plug provided as an integral partof each vehicle 154, the electrical plug being in turn electricallycoupled to an energy storage device 330 within vehicle 154. In someexamples, each energy transfer system 406 is a contactless chargingsystem that can include one or more inductive charging coils positionedrelative to mechanical features provided within charging station 404 forreceiving a vehicle 154. Inductive charging coils within transfer system406 can be configured to couple to inductive charging coils in vehicle154 or otherwise associated with an energy storage device 330. In someexamples, each energy transfer system 406 includes a conductive chargingsystem that includes a first conductive charging element (e.g., one ormore conductive rails, vehicle positioning elements, or other mechanicalfeatures provided within charging station 404 for receiving vehicle154). The first conductive charging element can be configured forelectrical contact with a second conductive charging element associatedwith a vehicle 154 or energy storage device 330 to form a channel fortransferring conducted charge to/from an energy storage device 330.

FIG. 8 depicts a second exemplary charging structure 450. Chargingstructure 450 can include a vehicle track 452 along which vehicles 154can be selectively maneuvered through the charging structure 450.Vehicle track 452 can include a plurality of charging stations 453provided in predetermined locations along vehicle track 452. It shouldbe appreciated that FIG. 8 depicts only a subset of charging stations453 along vehicle track 452, although charging stations 453 can beprovided along the entire portion of vehicle track 452. Each chargingstation 453 can be configured to receive a vehicle 154 (e.g., byproviding features for mechanically positioning the vehicle 154 withinthe charging station 450) and register a vehicle 154 (e.g., by providingfeatures for communicatively coupling the vehicle 154 and chargingstructure 450). Vehicle track 452 and/or the plurality of chargingstations 453 can include one or more energy transfer systems, such asenergy transfer system 406 of FIG. 7, which can include contact chargingfeatures and/or contactless charging features. For example, an energytransfer system associated with vehicle track 452 can be a contactcharging system that can include one or more conductive chargingelements positioned relative to vehicle track 452 on which the vehicles154 are selectively maneuvered through the charging station 450. Theconductive charging element(s) can be configured for electrical contactwith vehicle rims and/or one or more other conductive charging elementsassociated with a vehicle 154 or energy storage device 330 andconfigured to channel conducted charge to energy storage device 330.Other charging systems within charging structure 154 can include one ormore inductive charging coils and/or hardwired charging receptacles forreceiving vehicle plugs as previously described. A charge controller 454can control the charge of each energy storage device 330 in accordancewith one or more charging control signals 282. In some examples, chargecontroller 454 can include a central control system 202 as described inFIG. 6.

Charging structure 450 can include one or more ingress access points 455and one or more egress access points 456. Charging control signals 282can instruct a vehicle to enter the charging structure 450 at one ormore ingress access points 454, navigate through the charging structure450, and exit the charging structure 450 at one or more egress accesspoints 456 upon attaining a target state of charge, receiving a signalto shift into a service mode, etc. In some examples, each chargingstation 453 can include a vehicle platform for receiving a vehicle 154and maneuvering it along vehicle track 452. Charging structure 450 alsocan include one or more path bridges 458 a/458 b that provide adesignated path through the charging structure 450 by which a vehicle154 can be controlled from vehicle track 452 to exit the chargingstructure 450 via the one or more path bridges 458 a/458 b ahead ofother vehicles positioned on vehicle track 452. Vehicles 154 can becontrolled towards a path bridge 458 a/458 b from vehicle track 452when, for example, vehicle 154 reaches a target state of charge,receives a command control signal to transition from a second pluralityof vehicles in a charging mode to a first plurality of vehicles in aservice mode, or is otherwise instructed to do so by a charge controller454 or other control system.

FIG. 9 depicts a third exemplary charging structure 460. In someexamples charging structure 460 can correspond to a battery chargingstructure including one or more battery charging stations configured tocharge energy storage devices that are removable from a vehicle. In someimplementations, charging structure 460 as well as other chargingstructures described herein can include a combination of vehiclecharging stations and/or battery charging stations and associatedcomponents. Vehicle charging stations can be configured to charge anenergy storage device located in or otherwise associated with a vehiclewithout removing the energy storage device from the vehicle. Batterycharging stations can be configured to charge vehicle energy storagedevices that are removable from a vehicle such that energy storagedevices can be swapped with other energy storage devices located at acharging structure.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 9, charging structure 460 caninclude a charge controller 462, one or more charging stations 464, andan energy transfer system 465. Each of the charging stations 464 cancorrespond to a receptacle or other device configured to receive orotherwise be electrically coupled to an energy storage device 466.Energy transfer system 465 can interface with and selectively chargeeach energy storage device(s) 466. Although a single energy transfersystem 465 is depicted in FIG. 9, it should be appreciated that multipleenergy transfer systems 465 can be provided in other implementations.For instance, a dedicated energy transfer system 465 can be provided foreach of the charging stations 464 and corresponding energy storagedevice(s) received therein. The charge controller 462 can be coupled tothe energy transfer system 465 and configured to determine a currentstate of charge for each energy storage device 466 currently providedwithin charging structure 460. Charge controller 462 can control thecharge of each energy storage device 446 in accordance with one or morecharging control signals 282. In some examples, charge controller 462can include a central control system 202 as described in FIG. 6.

When a vehicle 154 arrives at charging structure 460, a current energystorage device 468 located in or otherwise associated with vehicle 154can be swapped with one of the energy storage devices 466 located atcharging structure 460 that has more charge than current energy storagedevice 468. Charge controller 462 can monitor the state of charge of allenergy storage devices 466 within charging structure 460 so that anidentification signal can be provided to vehicle 154 indicating whichenergy storage device 466 to swap with current energy storage device468. In some examples, such an identification signal will direct vehicle154 to replace current energy storage device 468 with one of the energystorage devices 466 that is fully charged by energy transfer system 465.Once current energy storage device 468 becomes one of the energy storagedevices 466 at charging structure 460, charge control signals canselectively control the positive and/or negative charging of such deviceuntil it is selected for use in another vehicle 154.

FIG. 10 depicts additional example features that may optionally beincluded within a charging station, such as charging stations 404 ofFIG. 7 and/or charging stations 453 of FIG. 8. For example, eachcharging station 404/453 can include a platform 470 onto which a vehicle154 can be received. The inclusion of platforms 470 or other featuresfor receiving vehicles in precise locations within a charging structurecan advantageously afford automated maneuvering and servicing of avehicle within a charging structure. This can provide beneficial savingsfor cost, labor, manpower, safety and other expenses associated withvehicle charging and/or servicing. Space savings can also beadvantageously realized within a charging structure and/or chargingstations therein by providing platform-based features for receivingvehicles. Vehicles received on a platform 470 can be maneuveredthroughout the interior of a charging structure with relative ease,especially since positional changes of a vehicle platform 470 can bemore dynamic than a conventionally driven vehicle that can sometimes besubject to larger turning radius requirements and the like.

In some implementations, platform 470 can include alignment blocks 472and/or other mechanical features for positioning and/or securing wheels474 of vehicle 154 onto platform 470. In some implementations, platform470 can include one or more first alignment connectors 488 that areconfigured to fit with one or more second alignment connectors 486associated with a vehicle 154. In some implementations, first alignmentconnectors 488 located on or near platform 170 can be male connectors,while second alignment connectors 486 located on or otherwise associatedwith vehicle 154 can include female connectors. First alignmentconnectors 488 and second alignment connectors 486 are configured toprecisely position vehicle 154 relative to platform 170 so thatautomated servicing, charging, cleaning, maintenance, etc. can beimplemented. In some examples, first alignment connectors 488 and secondalignment connectors 486 can be positioned in order to provide not onlya mechanical connection point between vehicle 154 and platform 170, butalso an electrical connection point for conductively charging an energystorage device located within vehicle 154. Charging station 404/453 caninclude one or more lift mechanisms 476 that can selectively elevateplatform 470 and vehicle 154 positioned thereon relative to a groundsurface 478.

Charging station 404/453 also can include maintenance hardware 480 on ornear vehicle platform 470 configured to robotically implementmaintenance tasks needed within vehicle 154. Example maintenance tasksimplemented by maintenance hardware 480 can include, but are not limitedto, maintenance of vehicle operating components (e.g., tires, fluids,brakes, etc.), maintenance of vehicle control system components (e.g.,downloading data stored within vehicle control system 204 and/orupgrading software instructions stored within vehicle control system204), and other tasks that may be needed in accordance with routinelyscheduled maintenance or maintenance issues that may arise unexpectedly.

Charging station 404/453 also can include cleaning hardware 482 on ornear vehicle platform 470 configured to robotically implement cleaningtasks needed for vehicle 154. Example cleaning tasks implemented bycleaning hardware 482 can include, but are not limited to, cleaning avehicle interior by vacuuming, wiping surfaces, etc. and/or cleaning avehicle exterior.

Charging station 404/453 also can include fueling/charging hardware 484,which can correspond, for example, to features provided within energytransfer system 406 as previously described. Fueling/charging hardware484 can additionally or alternatively include charging/fueling hardwareconfigured to robotically implement robotic fueling of powertrain systemcomponents on various vehicles 154. For example, fueling components fortransferring liquids and/or gas fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel, liquefiednatural gas (LNG), hydrogen, to a vehicle 154 for use by one or morevehicle power units (e.g., internal combustion engine (ICE), turbineengine, other engine, fuel cell, or other power unit).

Referring now to FIG. 11, an example method (500) for controlling chargeof a fleet of vehicles is depicted. Method (500) can be implemented, forexample, by one or more computing systems within central control system202 associated with a fleet operator and/or a charging structure 150.Method (500) can include receiving (502) current status indicators froma plurality of vehicles. Current status indicators received at (502) cancorrespond, for example, to the current status indicators 252 of FIG. 3(e.g., a current geographic location for a vehicle 154 as determinedfrom one or more location sensors, a current state of charge of one ormore energy storage devices located onboard the vehicle 154 asdetermined by one or more charge sensors, a current operational statussuch as a service mode or a charging mode to which the vehicle 154 iscurrently assigned).

Method (500) also can include receiving (504) one or more electric gridsignals indicating current status or power pricing information for anelectric grid. For example, the one or more electric grid signalsreceived at (504) can include one or more of time-based rate signalsthat provide power pricing rates for consuming energy during differentincrements of time, demand response signals providing power pricingrates for increasing generation or supply and/or for reducingconsumption or demand as needed to support operational requirements of alocal electric grid, and/or power pricing rates for short term voltageand frequency signal adjustments as needed to support operationalrequirements of a local electric grid. In some examples, the one or moreelectric grid signals received at (504) correspond to signals similar inform to signals 260, 270, 272 and/or 274 such as depicted in FIG. 4.

Method (500) also can include receiving (506) one or more vehicleservice requests that request operation of a vehicle for providing avehicle service to one or more end users. For example, vehicle servicerequests received at (506) can correspond to vehicle service requests254 depicted in FIG. 3. In some examples, vehicle service requestsreceived at (506) can include data identifying a total volume (N) ofvehicle service requests within one or more geographic areas at a givenpoint in time or within a given portion of time.

Method (500) also can include determining (508) a first plurality ofvehicles for operating in a service mode for providing the vehicleservice requested by the one or more vehicle service requests receivedat (506). Simultaneously with determining (508) or as part of a separatedetermining (510), a second plurality of vehicles for operating in acharging mode is also determined. The second plurality of vehiclesdetermined at (508) to operate in a charging mode can be sent to chargeor discharge their energy storage devices at a current time or at apredetermined future time. In some examples, a command control signalcan be provided at (512) to each of the plurality of vehicles in thefleet to control operation of the vehicles in accordance with theirassigned operational status (e.g., either being assigned to the firstplurality of vehicles operating in a service mode or the secondplurality of vehicles operating in a charging mode). In some examples,the instructions for assigning a vehicle into a first plurality (e.g.,service mode) or second plurality (e.g., charging mode) contained withincommand control signal provided at (512) is alternatively included withthe charging control signal provided at (516).

Method (500) also can include determining (514) a charging controlsignal for each of the plurality of vehicles in a fleet or for at leasta subset of vehicles in a fleet (e.g., those in the second plurality ofvehicles determined at (510)). A charging control signal determined at(514) can include one or more of authorization instructions 283,location instructions 284, charging mode instructions 285, charging timeinstructions 286, rate of charge instructions 287, and/or target stateof charge instructions 288 as described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG.12 depicts more particular aspects of determining (514) a chargingcontrol signal. For example, if a separate command control signal is notalready provided at (512), then determining charging control signal at(514) can include determining at (520) whether a vehicle should operatein the first plurality of vehicles for a service mode or a secondplurality or vehicles for a charging mode. Determining (514) chargingcontrol signal also can include determining (522) an authorization orlack of authorization, for example in the form of instructionsauthorizing a vehicle to start charging and/or an instruction for thevehicle to not charge. Determining (514) charging control signal alsocan include determining (524) a charging structure location, forexample, in terms of a unique identifier for a charging structure thatcan be used to access a table or other database of informationassociated with all charging structures 150 in a nearby geographic area,a specific street address for a charging structure and/or particulargeographic coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude values) at which acharging structure is located. In some examples, charging structurelocations determined at (524) can be determined based on specificlocations within an electric grid that are in need of extra powergeneration during a portion of time as indicated in demand responseand/or frequency signals received from an electric grid control system.Determining (514) charging control signal also can include determining(526) a charging mode, for example a positive charging mode (e.g., acharging mode during which the charge level of an energy storage device330 increases corresponding to power consumption by a vehicle 154) or anegative charging mode (e.g., a charging mode during which the chargelevel of an energy storage device 330 decreases corresponding to powergeneration by a vehicle 154). Determining (514) charging control signalalso can include determining (528) a start time and/or stop time forcharging an energy storage device 330, determining (530) a rate ofcharge for charging an energy storage device 330 and/or determining(532) a target state of charge at which a vehicle can finish operatingin a charging mode.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the determined command control signalsincluding assignment of a vehicle as being in either a first pluralityof vehicles at (508) or a second plurality of vehicles at (510) and/orthe charging control signals determined at (514) can be determined, atleast in part, from the current status indicators of the vehiclesreceived at (502), the one or more electric grid signals indicatingcurrent status or power pricing information for the electric gridreceived at (504) and/or the service requests received at (506). In someexamples, current values for data or related parameters included in oneor more of the current status indicators received at (502), the one ormore electric grid signals received at (504) or the one or more servicerequests received at (506) can be compared to threshold values indetermining command control signals at (508/510) and/or determiningcharging control signals at (514). In some examples, current values fordata or related parameters included in one or more of the current statusindicators received at (502), the one or more electric grid signalsreceived at (504) or the one or more service requests received at (506)can be assigned one or more weights so that the regular values and/orweighted values for each parameter are used in a scoring formula fordetermining whether to assign a vehicle to the first plurality at (508)or the second plurality at (510) as well as for determining specificinstructions for inclusion within the charging control signalsdetermined at (514).

For example, assigning a given vehicle into the second plurality ofvehicles determined at (510) to operate in a charging mode may be morelikely when current status indicators received at (502) identify thegiven vehicle as having a current state of charge that is below one ormore predetermined threshold levels. In some examples, assigning a givenvehicle into the second plurality of vehicles determined at (510) tooperate in a charging mode may be less likely when the one or moreelectric grid signals received at (504) indicate that a time-based ratefor power pricing is higher than a predetermined threshold level.Conversely, taking a vehicle from the first plurality determined at(508) into the second plurality determined at (510) may be more likelywhen electric grid signals (510) include a demand response signal orfrequency response signal indicating a current need for transfer ofpower to an electric grid. In another example, keeping a vehicle in thefirst plurality determined at (508) to operate in a service mode may bemore likely when the total volume (N) of service requests received at(506) exceeds a predetermined threshold level.

Referring still to FIG. 11, method (500) also can include providing at(516) the charging control signals determined at (514) to the pluralityof vehicles (e.g., by providing a unique charging control signaldetermined for each vehicle in the fleet to the corresponding vehicle).Providing charging control signals at (516) then can be used at eachvehicle to control charging of one or more energy storage devices ateach vehicle in accordance with the charging control signal.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a method (540) for controlling charge of anenergy storage device can be performed, for example, by one or morevehicle control systems 204 located at a vehicle 154. Method (540) caninclude communicating (542), by one or more computing devices 300provided within vehicle control system 204, one or more current statusindicators 252 associated with the vehicle 154 to a central computingsystem 202 located remotely from the vehicle 154. In some examples, theone or more current status indicators 252 communicated at (542) caninclude a current vehicle location (e.g., as determined by one or morelocation sensors 328) and/or current state of charge of an energystorage device (e.g., as determined by one or more charge sensors 331)within vehicle and/or a current operational state of the vehicle (e.g.,service mode or charging mode). Method (540) also can include receiving(544) a charge control signal determined, at least in part, from thecurrent status indicators communicated at (542) and/or from optionaladditional information such as electric grid signals and/or a volume ofvehicle service requests received from end user devices as previouslydescribed. Method (540) also can include controlling (546) charging ofan energy storage device 330 in vehicle 154 in accordance with thecharging control signal received at (544).

Referring now to FIG. 14, a method (550) for verifying fleet chargingeffects on an electric grid can be implemented at least in part bymonitoring hardware provided within vehicles and/or charging structures.Method (550) can include providing at (552) one or more energy flowmeters associated with one or more energy storage devices to determine abi-directional flow of energy to and from the one or more energy storagedevices. In some examples, the energy flow meter(s) provided at (552)can correspond to a kilowatt (kW) hour meter 342 provided as part ofvehicle powertrain system 310. In other examples, the energy flowmeter(s) provided at (552) can be part of the energy transfer system(s)and/or charging stations at a charging structure, such as depicted inFIGS. 7-9.

Method (540) can also include requesting/receiving (554) by one or morecomputing devices (e.g., by one or more computing devices provided at acentral location such as a charging structure 400/450/460 and/or centralcontrol system 202) an amount of energy actually consumed by and/or anamount of energy actually generated from each energy storage devices asdetermined by the energy flow meters provided at (552).

Method (550) can also include comparing (556) the amount(s) of energyreceived at (554) to an estimated amount of energy that the energystorage devices would have consumed from the electric grid given actuallevels of vehicle service demand without providing additional powergeneration back to the electric grid. In some examples, comparing at(556) can result in an energy differential that quantifies the amount ofenergy savings realized at the electric grid by the controlledcharging/discharging of a mobile energy storage fleet. Comparing at(556) can additionally or alternatively correspond to determining anamount of energy savings relative to a contracted amount agreed uponbetween the fleet operator functioning as an energy provider(contractor) and an electric grid operator (contractee) as a result ofdemand response or frequency regulation requests from the electric gridoperator.

Method (550) can also include providing (558) determined energy amountsas output for relay to another computing device. In some instances, thedetermined energy amounts include one or more of the amounts ofconsumed/generated energy received at (554) and/or the energydifferential determined from comparing at (556) to another computingdevice. In some examples, providing at (558) can include providingdetermined energy amounts to a stakeholder of an electric grid, such asan electric grid manager, energy provider, power pricing controller,etc. In some examples, providing at (558) can be implemented by one ormore computing devices provided at a central control system 202. In someexamples, providing at (558) can include providing the metered result259 indicated in FIG. 3 from central control system 202 to electric gridcontrol system 208.

While the present subject matter has been described in detail withrespect to specific example embodiments and methods thereof, it will beappreciated that those skilled in the art, upon attaining anunderstanding of the foregoing can readily produce alterations to,variations of, and equivalents to such embodiments. Accordingly, thescope of the present disclosure is by way of example rather than by wayof limitation, and the subject disclosure does not preclude inclusion ofsuch modifications, variations and/or additions to the present subjectmatter as would be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for controllingcharge of a fleet of vehicles, comprising: receiving, by a computingsystem comprising one or more computing devices, current statusindicators from a plurality of vehicles; receiving, by the computingsystem, one or more electric grid signals indicating current status orpower pricing information for an electric grid; receiving, by thecomputing system, service request data associated with a plurality ofvehicle service requests that respectively request operation of avehicle from the plurality of vehicles for providing a transportationservice to one or more end users, wherein the transportation servicecomprises one or more of a rideshare service, a courier service, ordelivery service, and wherein the service request data includes a volumeof the vehicle service requests within one or more geographic areas;determining, by the computing system, charging control signals for eachof the plurality of vehicles, wherein the charging control signals aredetermined, at least in part, from the current status indicators of thevehicles, the service request data, and the one or more electric gridsignals indicating current status or power pricing information for theelectric grid; and providing, by the computing system, the chargingcontrol signals to the plurality of vehicles to control charging ofenergy storage devices at the plurality of vehicles in accordance withthe charging control signals.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining, by the computing system, a first plurality ofvehicles for operating in a service mode for providing thetransportation service; and determining, by the computing system, asecond plurality of vehicles for operating in a charging mode, andwherein the charging control signals are provided to the secondplurality of vehicles.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreelectric grid signals comprises a time-based rate signal providing oneor more power pricing rates for consuming energy during differentincrements of time.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or moreelectric grid signals comprises a demand response signal providing powerpricing rates for increased generation or reduced consumption as neededto support local grid demand requirements.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises a frequencysignal providing power pricing rates for short term frequency signaladjustment as needed to support local grid frequency requirements. 6.The method of claim 1, wherein the charging control signals comprise oneor more of authorization instructions to initiate a start of chargingfor each energy storage device or to request not charging for eachenergy storage device, location instructions for determining a vehiclecharging structure for charging each vehicle, charging mode instructionsspecifying a positive charging mode for energy consumption from theelectric grid or a negative charging mode for energy generation to theelectric grid, charging time instructions for determining a chargingstart time or a charging stop time, rate of charge instructions thatspecify a current rate of charge for charging each energy storagedevice, and target state of charge instructions that specify a targetstate of charge desired for the energy storage device.
 7. An autonomouscomputing system comprising: one or more processors; and one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media that store instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the autonomouscomputing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:receiving current status indicators from a plurality of vehicles;receiving one or more electric grid signals indicating current status orpower pricing information for an electric grid; receiving servicerequest data associated with a plurality of vehicle service requeststhat request operation of a vehicle from the plurality of vehicles forproviding a transportation service to one or more end users, wherein thetransportation service comprises one or more of a rideshare service acourier service, or delivery service, and wherein the service requestdata includes a volume of the plurality of vehicle service requestswithin one or more geographic areas; determining charging controlsignals for each of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the chargingcontrol signals are determined; at least in part, from the currentstatus indicators of the vehicles, the service request data, and the oneor more electric grid signals indicating current status or power pricinginformation for the electric grid; and providing the charging controlsignals to the plurality of vehicles to control charging of energystorage devices at the plurality of vehicles in accordance with thecharging control signals.
 8. The computing system of claim 7, theoperations further comprising: determining a first plurality of vehiclesfor operating in a service mode for providing the transportationservice; and determining a second plurality of vehicles for operating ina charging mode; and wherein the charging control signals are providedto the second plurality of vehicles.
 9. The computing system of claim 7,wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises a time-basedrate signal providing one or more power pricing rates for consumingenergy during different increments of time.
 10. The computing system ofclaim 7, wherein the one or more electric grid signals comprises ademand response signal providing power pricing rates for increasedgeneration or reduced consumption as needed to support local grid demandrequirements.
 11. The computing system of claim 7, wherein the one ormore electric grid signals comprises a frequency signal providing powerpricing rates for short term frequency signal adjustment as needed tosupport local grid frequency requirements.
 12. The computing system ofclaim 7, wherein the charging control signals comprise authorizationinstructions to initiate a start of charging for each energy storagedevice or to request not charging for each energy storage device. 13.The computing system of claim 7, wherein the charging control signalscomprise location instructions for determining a vehicle chargingstructure for charging each vehicle.
 14. The computing system of claim7, wherein the charging control signals comprise charging modeinstructions specifying a positive charging mode for energy consumptionfrom the electric grid or a negative charging mode for energy generationthe electric grid.
 15. The computing system of claim 7, wherein thecharging control signals comprise charging time instructions fordetermining one or more of a charging start time and a charging stoptime.
 16. The computing system of claim 7, wherein the charging controlsignals comprise rate of charge instructions that specify a current rateof charge for charging each energy storage device.
 17. The computingsystem of claim 7, wherein the charging control signals comprise targetstate of charge instructions that specify a to charge desired for theenergy storage device.
 18. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia that store instructions that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations, theoperations comprising: receiving current status indicators from aplurality of vehicles; receiving one or more electric grid signalsindicating current status or power pricing information for an electricgrid; receiving service request data associated with one or more vehicleservice requests that respectively request operation of a vehicle fromthe plurality of vehicles for providing a transportation service to oneor more end users, wherein the transportation service comprises one ormore of a rideshare service, a courier service, or delivery service, andwherein the service request data includes a volume of the one or morevehicle service requests within one or more geographic areas;determining a first portion of the plurality of vehicles for operatingin a service mode for providing the transportation service; determininga second portion of the plurality of vehicles for operating in acharging mode; determining charging control signals for each vehicle inthe second portion of the plurality of vehicles, wherein the chargingcontrol signals are determined, at least in part, from the currentstatus indicators of the vehicles, the service request data, and the oneor more electric grid signals indicating current status or power pricinginformation for the electric grid; and providing the charging controlsignals to the second portion of the plurality of vehicles to controlcharging of energy storage devices at the plurality of vehicles inaccordance with the charging control signals.
 19. The one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein the one ormore electric grid signals comprise one or more of a time-based ratesignal providing one or more power pricing rates for consuming energyduring different increments of time, a demand response signal providingpower pricing rates for increased generation or reduced consumption asneeded to support local grid demand requirements, and a frequency signalproviding power pricing rates for short term frequency signal adjustmentas needed to support local grid frequency requirements.
 20. The one ormore non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 18, wherein thecharging control signals comprise one or more of authorizationinstructions to initiate a start of charging for each energy storagedevice or to request not charging for each energy storage device,location instructions for determining a vehicle charging structure forcharging each vehicle, charging mode instructions specifying a positivecharging mode for energy consumption from the electric grid or anegative charging mode for energy generation to the electric grid,charging time instructions for determining a charging start time or acharging stop time, rate of charge instructions that specify a currentrate of charge for charging each energy storage device, and target stateof charge instructions that specify a target state of charge desired forthe energy storage device.